Ritzenhein finishes ninth in Olympic marathon

AP PhotoRockford's Dathan Ritzenhein salutes the crowd as he crosses the finish line in ninth place at the Olympic marathon in Beijing.

BEIJING -- In the end, the cramps got him. That and a blistering Olympic-record pace. Rockford native Dathan Ritzenhein finished a strong ninth in the men's Olympic marathon.

Kenyan Samuel Kamau Wansiru set an Olympic record on his way to the win in 2 hours, 6.32 seconds, bettering the record of 2:09.21 set by Carlos Lopez of Portugal in 1984.

The 21-year-old Kenyan was part of a breakaway pack that set a wicked early pace. Ritzenhein, who lives and trains in Eugene, Ore., and teammate Ryan Hall didn't attempt to go with the leaders.

"I thought I had a chance at a medal, and tried to put myself in it early," said Ritzenhein, who finished in 2:11.59. "But I looked at the clock at 5k and we were already out at, I think, 14:55. I knew if I kept that up, that I wouldn't be finishing."

So, Ritzenhein opted for Plan B, settling into a good rhythm and hoping the leaders would come back to him.

It worked for a while. Ritzenhein moved up from 15th place to 10th. Then, at the 25-kilometer mark, the cramps hit, first in his left calf.

"After another couple miles, both hamstrings and my right calf started going," he said. "Everything was kind of going. I actually had to stop, just past 30k, because my left hamstring just seized up.

"I took a couple seconds there, tried to ease back into the pace for a minute or two, and then got back into a reasonable pace. I was just trying to hang on at that point, because the cramps kept coming."

But Ritzenhein was determined to finish. Four years ago, in the Olympic 10,000 meters in Athens, he had to drop out because of a stress fracture in his left foot.

Don't think he has forgotten.

"That's the only race I've ever dropped out of," Ritzenhein said. "I've carried that with me for four years. So that was never really an option. If I had to sit on the side of the road and drink drinks until I came back to life, I was going to have to do that. Because I couldn't even think about that again.

"To be able to come here and finish ninth in the Olympics is a step for me."

Teammate Hall finished 10th in 2:12.33. It's the first time two U.S. runners have placed in the top 10 in an Olympic marathon since 1976, when Frank Shorter won the silver medal and Don Kardong came in fourth.

Ritzenhein also took satisfaction from the way he came back from another stress fracture in that bothersome left foot that shelved him for much of the past spring.

"Twelve weeks ago I wasn't even running on the ground," he said."It took everything I had to get into this kind of shape that quickly. I had to compromise a few things and make the best out of the situation. This summer couldn't have gone better, considering where I was coming from. I just tried to be as smart as I could, but I had to take some risks.

"My background fitness was decent, considering what I was doing all spring."

Or, not doing. In the end, though, maybe the rushed training took a toll on a warm, sunny, Sunday morning in Beijing.

Ritzenhein is nothing if not tough. He sipped on a sodium-laced energy jell over the last few kilometers and made into National Stadium to the roar of a crowd of about 40,000.

"I was just walking the fine line," he said. "In the end, my energy felt fine. I didn't feel bad at all. But I was just cramping like crazy."

Ritzenhein saluted Wansiru.

"To run 2:06 in this is incredible," he said. "He's a very young guy. He's going to be an incredible marathoner."

As for Ritzenhein, he has his own plans.

"We're going to Michigan to hang out with family," he said. "We haven't had a vacation like that in a while."